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From: ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: INDOOR - Novice questions about pet birds
Message-ID: <277F7F5C.31F1@intercon.com>
Date: 31 Dec 90 18:11:39 GMT
References: <1990Dec26.143531.15098@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov> <3182@legs.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@intercon.com (USENET The Magnificent)
Reply-To: ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry)
Organization: InterCon Systems Corporation, Herndon, VA
Lines: 33

In article <3182@legs.UUCP>, freds@legs.UUCP (Fred Sieg) writes:
> We did not deny food. We took away her standard fare and offered a
> multitude of other foods. In fact, she had more food available during
> this time than usual. She chose not to eat it. The vet said that she
> might and could have gone for three days without harm.

That's a pretty bold statement for any vet to make.  And I don't see any
difference between witholding food, and witholding food the bird will eat.
After one day, one of my Moluccans lost approximately 15% of his body weight.
The bird was tubed to maintain his health.  

> The same vet that takes care of the birds at Universal Studios and runs
> a raptor rehab center. He has taken care of our two healthy, happy
> cockatoos through illness and accident. I would take his advice and more
> importantly, in this context, pass his opinion to other net folks any
> day.
> 
> Addressing a dietary problem under the care of a physician is not
> stupid. A vet with these credentials is not a quack.
> I am not a vet and don't presume to know better. I did find a VERY good
> avian vet to entrust the care of our "children" to and heed his advice.

Unfortunately, credentials or no, many vets ARE quacks.  Take, for example,
a vet that bills himself as an "expert" with multiple letters after his name
in this area.  54% of all the birds he ever put under anesthesia died.

Your vet may be wonderful, full of knowledge, and the one of the greatest
people in the world.  However, I still maintain that advising a client that
3 days without food is ok, is reckless.

Mikki Barry

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